


Alcoholism

by doctor243



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Cheating, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23789224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctor243/pseuds/doctor243
Summary: Once bitten twice shy, even if the Spider is the one who was bitten.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Tony Stark & Peter Parker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	Alcoholism

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a sequel to [Stretched Too Thin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23351734) by [ you_guy_are_losers ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/you_guys_are_losers/pseuds/you_guys_are_losers) or @you-guys--are-losers on tumblr and I wanna thank her for letting me write a follow up^^

People often got drinking wrong. The movies, the stories, the memories – all wrong. College parties were never as much fun as American Pie or 21 Jump Street or your friend Brad made it seem. The truth is that everybody was drunk off their rocker and more nauseous than happy. Even their happiness was more of an effort than an expression. They tried to be happy because when they inevitably left, they knew that they wouldn’t be. Drinking away sorrows was another thing that everyone got wrong. Nobody actually successfully drank away their sorrows. It is literally impossible because alcohol is a depressant. Your mind doesn’t get numb, your body does, and if it is numb enough, you could perhaps convince yourself that you weren’t hurting as much as you are. A mind can indeed trick itself.

Peter stared at the polaroid of MJ and him in his wallet as he sipped at a bottle of Wild Turkey. Irony was a terrible thing. “ _I was drunk,”_ was all that he could hear in his mind. He wasn’t drunk yet, and it wasn’t particularly good whisky, but it gave him a little buzz and that’s all he craved at the moment.

“ _I’m sorry,_ ” he remembered hearing, through her sobs and hiccups.

“ _MJ?_ ” he had practically yelled into his phone, his heart sinking further with every second that passed. “ _What happened? Are you alright?_ ”

A muffled sob had come through the phone line before a stuttered voice spoke through. “ _I…I fucked up, Peter_.”

“ _What do you mean you fucked up?_ ” he had demanded. Well he had meant it as a demand, but it had come out as a choked whisper. He knew what she had meant, but he needed to hear her say it, to verbalise it, to eliminate the one percent chance that he could have been over-imagining things. How he dreaded that he was all the way with the Avengers in Siberia with no way home except for the quinjet flight in a week. How he hated that he couldn’t see her face to face. “ _What did you do?”_ he’d asked again when she offered nothing but silence.

“ _I cheated on you,_ ” she finally answered.

His world had immediately come to a halt. The feelings his suspicions gave him were nothing in comparison to the feelings he felt rushing into his body. He clenched up as rage and sadness and jealousy and pain invaded his heart and wreaked havoc. He wanted to scream but he was in the hotel Falcon would definitely hear him from next door. He dared not ask her to repeat herself lest the emotions came again.

“ _It’s only been three months since the last time, MJ,_ ” he heard himself say through gritted teeth.

“ _I know,”_ she has whispered, evidently still crying. His heart threatened to rip in two as one side roared and demanded to know what right she had to cry. The other longed to be by her side and wipe away her tears. _Count to ten, Peter,_ he told himself. _Breathe…_

“ _Did you fuck him?_ ” he asked. Well that was unexpected.

The silence that had followed was louder than anything he could have yelled. He forced every muscle in his body to keep still before he started screaming into the empty room.

He had hung up soon after, unable to utter any more coherent words, but he knew the conversation was not over. Now, he sat in hangar of the quinjet at 3 in the morning, away from the rest of the team who were still recuperating in the hotel rooms after a three-day mission, taking occasional sips from a bottle of whiskey. There hadn’t been any on the jet ( _of all times, Mr Stark_ ), so he’d hopped down to the nearby liquor store as Spider-man and offered the store clerk an autograph in lieu of an ID. His first sip had burned his throat and he nearly spat it out, but forced himself to swallow instead. This was how people felt better right? This was how people stopped thinking about all the shitty things in life?

By the time he started his second bottle, he’d gotten used to the burning in his throat and was starting to feel a little woozy. He pulled out his wallet and looked at the polaroid in his wallet. There was no significance in the photograph; they were testing the camera and had decided to take a selfie. But he’d kept it precisely because it was so unimportant, a small snippet of normalcy, and it was just so beautiful.

He snapped up when he heard footsteps coming towards him, but deflated in relief when he saw who was entering the quinjet. “Mr Stark,” he breathed. “You scared me.”

“And you’re intoxicated,” his mentor replied, more amused than anything.

“Lay off me, man,” Peter groaned. “It’s been a rough week.” He took another swig. “…or month… or year…”

“I’ve noticed,” Tony took the bottle from his hand and took a sip before wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Ew kid, if you’re drinking whiskey, at least get the good stuff.”

When Peter made no effort to retort, Tony sighed and sat down on the floor, opposite the Spiderling. They sat in silence, occasionally passing the bottle to each other, but otherwise just offering each other the comfort of company. Tony would, in the near future, question his decision to condone drinking with a minor. He would then follow that thought by memories of himself at Peter’s age, and then excuse Peter completely for consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

“Have you ever…” Peter finally spoke up. “Have you ever trusted someone with your entire heart, and then been betrayed?” Yeah he was definitely getting drunk. “And then forgiven them, _trusted_ them again, and been betrayed again?”

Tony sat up a little straighter when he heard this, and his heart ached at how defeated Peter looked. The kid was nineteen, for crying out loud. “I have,” he replied tentatively, unsure of what Peter actually wanted to hear.

“Could you forgive them again?” he all but whispered.

Tony sighed and took another swig from the bottle before smiling ruefully. “Well, I’m still on the same team as Cap, aren’t I?”

Peter fell silent again, and they carried on, drinking slowly and sighing every now and then.

“What’s going on, kid?” Tony whispered finally, as if a sound louder than that would break the roof that was protecting them both from all the terrors and suffering that the world could throw at them.

Something flashed in Peter’s eyes and he seemed to wake up a little, before choking out a sob. “MJ cheated on me,” he croaked at last, hand bunching up his hair. “Twice.”

“What the fuck?” Tony hissed in disbelief. He knew MJ really well, since Peter kept bringing her to the tower during their high school days, and even more after the snap. She was a god girl, and hearing that she’d betrayed the trust of his, for lack of better words, son, was absolutely unthinkable.

“I thought that drinking would make me feel better,” Peter continued, as though he hadn’t heard Tony. “But now it’s worse. It just hurts so bad.” He was crying at this point and Tony made a point not to pass the bottle back to him.

“Come here kid,” Tony said as he got up and pulled Peter into a hug. He knew that no amount of words and condolences would comfort him, but he still had to try. Peter accepted the gesture wholeheartedly, fingers digging into Tony’s jacket as he sobbed, the dam that held his feelings broken and his heart flooding with emotion.

“I don’t know what to do, Mr Stark,” he hiccupped. “I don’t know what to do.”

Tony continued to rub Peter’s back as he tried to soothe his shaking child. He whispered acknowledgements and apologies to keep Peter in the present, but nothing could help Peter feel better.

After a little more than half an hour, Peter’s sobs reduced to intermittent gasps, and eventually, occasional sniffs, and Tony decided it was time to get some rest. He made a mental note to hold off on calling Peter in for any missions, but would make sure his attendance was required at the tower, if only to make sure that Peter wasn’t alone. “C’mon kid,” he grunted as he struggled to pull Peter up from their seats on the floor. “You can sleep in my room tonight.” The boy nodded and stumbled out the door of the quinjet, arm around his mentor for support.

“What do I do?” Peter whispered as they entered the elevator of the hotel.

Tony sighed, unable to find the right answer to this impossible situation. He knew how much they loved each other, and how much they fought to stay together and keep their love alive. There was no correct answer, and no mathematical equation that could solve this dilemma.

“You’re going to take this one day at a time,” he finally answered. He took a deep breath and tried his best to find the words. “I can’t tell you what to do about MJ, but you’re going to be alright kid. Whatever decision you make, I’ll be here to keep you standing. You _will_ be happy again one day.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I hope you guys are staying safe during this scary time, if you want more stories or requests, head over to my tumblr [@doctor243](https://doctor243.tumblr.com/) and shoot me a request! Be safe and wash your hands!


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